Hinge



of the same.

UNITED s'm'res PATENT OFFICE HINGE Richard G. Voge, Annapolis, Md. Application. April 1. 1935, Serial No. 14,145

10 Claims.

The hinge of the present invention while not exclusively confined thereto is particularly adapted to use on the doors of automobiles. It is especiallyintended for use as a concealed hinge, that is, one which when installed and in use is frame against which it fits is not Straight but is curved. In such constructions it is desirable that when the door is open it be somewhat removed from the frame.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a frontjelevation of one form of closed hinge embodying the invention. 'Fig. 2 is a side elevation Fig. 3 is a transverse horizontal section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a general perspective view from the inside showing an opened. door provided with two hinges.

Fig. 5 is a transverse horizontal section through a door and frame provided with a hinge of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical I section of a door and frame provided with hinges of the present invention showing the door in an .open position. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration to explain the construction and operation. Fig. 8 is a front elevation on a reduced I scale of another form of closed hinge embodying prises a. member In which .a frame-and a member II .tened to a door or vice versa.

.member ID and by means I member I5 is fastened to the member II. glustrated the outer end I 6 of the member I3. is turned and the end I I of the link member I5 is cut so as to fit the turned portion I 6. ing through the members I3 and I8. wsuitable manner.

the invention and Fig. 9 is a transverse horizontal section alongthe line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

The specific form of hinge illustrated commay be fastened to which may be fas- By means of al I3 is fastened to the of a pintle, I4 a link As ilpintle I2. a link member Pass- I5 is a pintle place in any For instance the pintles I2 and I4 may have drive fits in the members In The pintles may be held in and H and be more loosely engaged by the membersI3 and I5 so that they may turn about the apintles or vice versa. I The pintle I8 may have a drive fit in the member I5 and in addition may be provided with a pin I9 toaid in holding it in position. The pintle I8 may be more loosely engaged by the member I3 which may turn upon ,it and which may be held from coming off the y pintle I8 by means of a threaded nut at its end.

In Fig. 1 the extended or projected axes of the pintles are illustrated by means of dotted lines. It will be observed that when the axes of the pintles I2, I4, and it are projected or extended they meet in a single point P and it is of the essence of the present invention that the pintles beso arranged. The relative angles of the pintles may bevaried within Wide limits but they will always be so arranged that the projected axes of all three pintles meet in a point.

It is not essential that the members l3 and I 5 lie in contact throughout their lengths but they may be conveniently brought into substantial contact with each other, and in order to allow easy swinging movement about the pintle I8 the adjacentsurface of the member It may be curved to form a concave surface whilethe adjacent face of the member I5 may be curved to form a corresponding convex trated more clearly in Fig. 3. faces of the members I3 and I5 form a conical surface with the axis of the pintle I8 forming the axis of the cone. This arrangement forms a complete and relatively snug fit.

As illustrated the three pintles I2, I4, and I8 are so arranged and constructed that their axes if prolonged would all intersect at the point P which is exterior and lying on the axis of desired rotation of the door in which the hinges are installed. In the specific hinge described, for simplicity of construction, in the closed position the axes of all three members lie in about the same plane and the axis of pintle I4 is a continuationof the axis of the pintle I2. This is not essential and other constructions or demember as illus- The meeting surmay conveniently 'signs are possible providing in any case that the axes of all three pintles when projected intersect at a point. 7

In the hinge illustrated the pintles are arranged so that the axis of the pintle I8 is at an angle of 45 to the axis of the pintles I2 and I4. This permits a maximum opening of the door of 90 giving a working opening of approximately SO since in the last 10 of movement of the hinge it works harder as it approaches its dead center. While the opening of 80 may be sufficient for ordinary use any desired less or greater angle of opening may be obtained by varying the angle of the axis of the pintle I8 to the axis of the other pintles.

As the door is opened the link members I3 and I5 swing on their respective pintles I2 and I4 and at the same time the member I3 will 36 between the axes of turn about the pintle I8 through an arc determined by the extent of opening of the door.

The distance from the hinge to the axis upon which the door will rotate is determined by the relative location of the point P. This distance will ordinarily be several inches in order to remove or free the door from the curve of the body of the automobile. It will be understood of course that the smaller this distance is the less need will be for strength in the hinge and as this distance is made greater the elements of the hinge should be strengthened or made larger or stronger in any suitable manner.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 the frame members lfla and Ila may be adapted to extend across the entire width of the hinge. They may be made more or less triangular in shape so as to carry pintles 12a and I40. with their axes in a line but arranged at an angle to the sides of the hinge. The members l3 and I5 may be attached to these pintles and may be fastened together by a pintle I800 at right angles to the sides of the hinge members l3 and 15. In other respects the relations of the pintles may be the same as in the other figures. In this arrangement the abutting sides of the members l3 and I5 may be built flat as illustrated in Fig. 9, no curvature for clearance being needed. When this form of the invention is employed an angle of approximately the pintles will give a door opening of approximately 90.

As illustrated in Fig. 5 the body frame member 21 of the car is provided with a cavity 22 for each hinge and the door frame member 23 is provided with a cavity-2t. The sum of the depths of the two cavities 22 and 2d is about equivalent to the thickness of the hinge thus a1- lowing the door when closed to come into close abutment with the frame member of the body. As illustrated the cavities 22 and 24 have each been made substantially equivalent in depth to one half the thickness of the hinge but any other suitable arrangement may be adopted. As illustrated in Fig. 5 it will be seen that the hinge may be entirely concealed leaving both exterior and interior of the body of the car clear and smooth with no projections.

As illustrated in Fig. 4 a door may be provided with two hinges, one above and one below the crest or maximum point of the arch of the body. This arrangement is preferable but not essential. Likewise there is illustrated a pair of hinges in Fig. 4 so placed as to fold in opposite directions, the upper hinge being illustrated with its pintle l8 below the attaching members it and ii while the lower hinge is illustrated as having its pintle l8 above its attaching members it and H. This is a convenient and desirable arrangement but is not essential.

When the member H! of a hinge is secured to the frame of the car the axis of the pintle l2 permanently points toward the point P. As the hinge operates the relative relation of adjacent pintles cannot change. When the hinge is manipulated so as to swing the link member !3 about the pintle i2 it carries with it the pintle l8. Since the projected axis of the pintle it meets the point P it will always point toward and remain at a fixed distance from the point P. As the link member l5 rotates about the pintle 18 the axis of the pintle M continues to point toward P and remains at a fixed distance from it. Therefore the member I i, or the door rigidly attached to it, is constrainedto remain at a fixed distance from point P and therefore to move on the surface of an imaginary sphere having P as a center. Fig. 7 is a diagram in which the line 25 illustrates the inner wall of a curved side of a device such as an automobile to which the door is to be hung. 26 illustrates the curved outer side of said wall. The line 2'! indicates the projected axis of pintles l2 and I4 of an upper hinge. The line 28 indicates the projected axis of the pintle 58 of an upper hinge. The line 29 indicates the projected axis of the pintles E2 and M of a lower hinge. The line 30 indicates the projected axis of the pintle E3 of the lower hinge. The lines 2'? and 2B meet at the point Pl. The lines 29 and 38 meet at the point P2. As both upper and lower hinges are fixed also to the door any point D on the door originally abutting the frame is constrained by the upper hinge to move on the surface of an imaginary sphere having P! as a center and the radius the distance from Pl to D. By the action of the lower hinge the point D on the door is also constrained to move on the surface of an imaginary sphere having P2 as a center with a radius equal to the distance from P2 to D. Therefore when controlled by both I hinges it must move on the intersection of the two spheres which is a circle about the line Pl, P2 and lying in a plane perpendicular to the line Pl P2. Therefore as every point on the door must move in a circle about Pl, P2 the door will swing about Pi, P2 as an axis. Since this axis may be arranged beyond the crest of the curve of the body the door will swing free of it as illustrated in Fig. 4.

It may be at various points on the door as illustrated in Fig. 4 but this is not essential since it is not necessary that the hinges used with each other be the same size or shape.

Various changes in details may be employed in embodiments of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. Means for hinging a closure to swing about an exterior axis comprising two intermediate members, two end members, two pintles perpendicular to the axis each pivoting an intermediate member to a different end member, a pintle at an angle to the axis pivoting together the opposite ends of the intermediate members side by side the pintles being so positioned that their axes produced all meet in a point and all being in the same plane when the closure is closed.

2. In a hinge two end members, two intermediate members, a pintle pivoting the intermediate members to each other side by side, and pintles each of whose axis produced coincides with the axis of the other and pivoting each intermediate member to an end member, all the pintles being so arranged that their axes produced all meet at a point and all being in substantially the same plane.

3. A hinge which in closed position comprises a fastening member, a second fastening member beside the first fastening member, intermediate members connected together by a pintle at one end and at the other ends connected to the respective fastening members by means of pintles the axes of which are in a continuous line, all of the pintle axes being arranged to pass through a single point when produced.

4. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge plates. and a pair of hinge members each having a pivotal connection at one end to one end of an associated hinge plate, and with said pivotal preferable to employ identical hinges' connections offset so that they will be in axial alignment when the hinge is closed, the free ends of said hinge members being pivoted to each other, and the pivotal axes at the two ends of being disposed at an angle with all three of the pivotal axes in said hinge passing through a common point in all relative positions of said hinge parts.

5. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge plates, and a pair of hinge members each having a pivotal side-by-side connection at one end to one end of an associated hinge plate, and with said pivotal connections offset so that they .willbe in axial alignment when the hinge is closed, the free ends of said hinge members being pivoted to each other, side by side, on a common hinge pin, and the pivotal axes at the two ends of each hinge member being disposed at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees to each other, with all three of the pivotal axes in said hinge passing through a common point in all relative positions of said hinge parts.

6. A hinge comprising a pair of hingeplates, and a pair of hinge members each having a pivotal connection at one end to one end 01 an associated hinge plate, and with said pivotal connections ofiset sothat theywill be in axial alignment when the hinge is closed, the free ends of said hinge members being pivoted to each other, with all three of the pivotal axes of said hinge passing through a common point in all relative positions of said hinge parts.

7. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge plates, and a pair of hinge members each having a pivotal side by side connection at one end of an 3 associated hinge plate, with said pivotal connections offset so that they will be in axial alignment when the hinge is closed, the free ends of said. hinge members being pivoted to each other, side by side, on a common hinge pin, with all three of the pivotal axes in said hinge passing through a common point in all relative positions of said hinge parts. 7

8. In a hinge two end members, two inter mediate members, a pintle pivoting the intermediate members to each other, and pintles each of whose axis produced coincides with the axis of the other and pivoting each intermediate member to an end member, all the pintles being so arranged that their axes produced all meet at a point and all being in substantially the same plane when the hinge is in closed position.

9. In a hinge two end members, two intermediate members, a pintle pivoting the intermediate members to' each other, and pintles pivoting each intermediate member to an end member the axes of all the pintles being arranged to meet at a point when produced and all being in the same plane.

10. A hinge which in closed position comprises a fastening member, a second fastening member, intermediate members connected to-' gether by a pintle at one end and at the other ends connected to the respective fastening members by means of pintles the axes of which are in a continuous line, all of the pintle axes being arranged to pass through a single point when produced.

RICHARD G. VOGE. 

